I recently read an article about Church Health and Church Growth. The title of the article: Church Growth is okay, but Church Health is What Matters. By the way, this was written by a pastor who has both church growth and amazing church health.
Paul says in Ephesians 4:16 “As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing.” (NLT) Notice it is Gods will for the Body to grow and to be healthy, not one or the other. Healthy bodies grow. You don’t have to force a healthy child to grow. Just put them in a stable environment and feed them properly and they will grow and grow. Churches, connection groups and individual Christians will grow spiritually if they are spiritually healthy. That is God’s will and plan.
At JIBC, we believe it is God’s will for every church, every Connection Group and every follower of Jesus to grow spiritually and to be spiritually healthy. How do we do that? We grow warmer through fellowship; we grow deeper through discipleship; we grown broader though ministry; we grow larger through outreach and evangelism and we grow stronger through worship. We strive to keep the five purposes of the church in balance: Fellowship, Discipleship, Service, Outreach and Worship. Which one is most important? They all are! The reality is that every Church and every Connection Group is driven by something: personalities, traditions, leaders, money, fear, etc. The goal is to be driven by the purposes of God as revealed over and over in His Holy Word. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) and the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) give a clear picture of Gods desire for His people. I am praying that JIBC will forever seek to be balanced in what drives us. It is not Church Growth or Church Health…it is both!
See you Sunday, good Lord willing, as we resume our teaching series in 1 John: That They May Know.
Pastor Tom
